$40M in projects on the way for Pathstone Corp. – Rochester Business Journal

Pathstone Corp. has three housing projects in the works in the city of Rochester, totaling a nearly $40 million investment.

The projects include the $16.6 million Alexander Street Apartments, a 60-unit affordable housing community with one-bedroom units. Thirty of the units are designated for people with psychiatric disabilities.

Pathstone also is developing Wedgepoint Apartments, a $15.8 million mixed-use project in the South Wedge.

Amy Casciani, Pathstone’s senior real estate developer, said both projects are on-track for completion by the end of the year. Both are centrally located, close to Pathstone’s office, as well as amenities and downtown, she noted.

Pathstone, which is located at 400 East Ave., specializes in affordable housing, community and economic development and human services programs for low-income working families. It employs 172 people full time and 23 part time.

Pathstone ranked third on Rochester Business Journal’s most recent list of area nonprofit organizations, ranked by expenditures for fiscal year 2013. Pathstone reported expenditures that year of $70.7 million.

The agency works with the communities it builds in to get input and feedback so the buildings are a good fit with the area, Casciani noted.

“It helps integrate (the projects) into the fabric of the communities,” she said.

The agency received funding for Alexander Street Apartments and Wedgepoint in 2015, she said.

All the units at the Alexander Street project will be affordable for households with incomes at or below 60 percent of area median income.

The commercial space at the site at 135 Alexander St. is to be leased by East House Corp., which will provide on-site support services to the 30 supportive housing units.

The space will contain a program area, medication room, meeting rooms for individual counseling, staff office and a kitchen.

Funding for the project comes from a variety of sources, including the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program; state Housing Finance Agency; state Office of Mental Health, Medicaid Redesign Team Program; and New York State Energy, Research and Development Authority as well as through a tax-exempt bond.

The demand for affordable, quality housing continues to be significant, especially for those with special needs, such as a mental illness, Greg Soehner, president and CEO of East House, has said.

With the continued downsizing of beds at the Rochester Psychiatric Center on Elmwood Avenue, as well as shorter inpatient stays there and at local hospitals, the need for supported housing for individuals with mental illness is growing, he added.

Wedgepoint Apartments, on South Avenue and Byron Street, consists of two buildings totaling 66,000 square feet. It includes 60 apartments, with one-, two- or three-bedroom units. There is also a community room and courtyard on the property.

Wedgepoint is targeted for families earning 40 to 90 percent of the area median income. It is near another Pathstone property, Pinnacle Place, which is a 407-unit apartment building on South Clinton Avenue.

In addition to residential, Wedgepoint includes 4,900 square feet of first floor retail space. Casciani said there is interest in the retail, but no deals have been finalized.

Funding sources for Wedgepoint include the city of Rochester Federal Home Loan Bank, Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, NeighborWorks America and the state Housing Trust Fund.

The third project Pathstone is working on in Rochester is renovating a city structure as part of a $6 million funded project that will house victims of domestic violence.

Outside the city, Pathstone is developing a 33-unit housing community in Gates, slated for completed in early 2017.

The agency also recently has wrapped up housing projects in Saratoga County and the Mid-Hudson region, Casciani said. Pathstone also has projects in several states, including Pennsylvania and Indiana, as well as in Puerto Rico, she added.